Monday, December 5, 2016

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Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list, and
would like to be notified via email when a new posting of this newsletter is
made, please email Terry Ommen at histerry@comcast.net. I will add you to the list. I will never share your
email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to Susan Mangini who was the first to
correctly identify the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) three links
symbol. It is at the entrance to the Odd Fellows lodge building on the east
side of Court Street between Main and Acequia. Nice work Susan!

Now for the next one. This is a plaque mounted in Visalia.
Here are the clues:

1.This location was a school site for many
years.

2.It is near a street that was once called Cottonwood.

3.It is not mounted on a building

4.Many “card carriers” pass by this almost everyday.

Where is this plaque? Good luck

Talk About Taxis

Friends Peggy and JM Bragg came across a photo recently that
absolutely astounds me and puts a smile on my face. This undated photograph
shows the City Taxi Service at 120 No. Locust Street across from Chan Bros.
Market. The thought that Visalia had a taxi

service doesn’t surprise me but
this photograph shows 14 taxi cabs lined up with a lot of employees standing nearby.
I checked the 1944 city directory and sure enough the City Taxi Service is
listed. But in 1944 Visalia had only about 9,000 people. Why so many taxis? I’m
sure Visalia now with a population of 130,000 doesn’t have 14 taxis. I’d love
to hear your thoughts on the subject. Thanks Peggy and JM for sharing!

Dedicated to Visalia

Recently Rosemary Hendrickson shared a poem about Visalia
that she found in the 1968 COS Tangent. I’m not sure what the Tangent was, but
this 8 stanza poem was written by Jim Compton as a dedication to the
publication. Jim was quite the Visalia fan. It is worth a read. Was Jim a
student at the time? Is he still in Visalia. Thanks Rosemary for finding this
cute poem.

Legrand Ellis
Insurance

Normita Ellis Error, member of the VUHS class of 1948 and
daughter of Legrand Ellis, recently contacted me and mentioned her father.
Between Normita and Marsha Robbins, niece to Normita, we have some interesting
information and a photograph of Legrand. He came to Three Rivers in 1923, and
while recuperating from TB he took a correspondence course to become an
insurance agent, which he became. He went to work for Buckman-Mitchell when the
company was on No. Church Street. Later he opened his own insurance office at
121 So. Church. This photograph shows Legrand at his office on the west side of
Church Street between Main and Acequia. Thanks to Legrand’s daughter and
granddaughter for sharing.

Amazing, Simply
Amazing

Peter Neeley contacted me some time back and alerted me to
an unusual Visalia photograph that he had seen on a Fresno Bee Facebook page.
John Walker, historian and a Fresno Bee Staff Photographer, I believe posted
this picture believing it was taken in
Fresno, but Peter recognized it as really Visalia. Peter knows his Visalia
pictures! Here is the photograph and it clearly shows dozens of motorcycles
lined up on the north side of Main Street between Church and Court. The photo
is looking west on Main and shows Cross Hardware, Leslie Cook Racket Store,
then the Palace Hotel. Across Court Street is J. M. Boynton’s Drug Store
(cupola on top). Appears to be early 1900s, maybe a motorcycle rally of some
kind? There has got to be an interesting story here. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks John for sharing this photograph and thanks Peter for bringing it to our
attention.

Structures, Styles
& Stories Program – Next Monday Eve

We all know that Visalia is a pretty amazing place. For lots
of reasons, the town is amazing. For one, Visalia has some very neat old
buildings…buildings that are not only historically important, but also still in
use. How nice is that! We have many that fit in that category, but on Monday
evening December 12th beginning at 7:00pm, I will be highlighting 12
buildings that fit in that category. The following old photographs will be
included: Visalia Co-operative Creamery (now Arts Visalia), Studebaker Bldg
(now 210 Center), Montgomery Auditorium (now L.J. Williams), Fox Theatre,

Town
Center Station Post Office (downtown post office), Palace Hotel, Pacific House,
Dudley House, Southern Pacific Depot, Spalding House, and Bank of Italy (now
Bank of Sierra). At the end of the presentation 12 enlarged (20” x 30”)
photographs of the old buildings will be auctioned off and there are two
special items also in the auction—two beautiful artistic pieces of history. The
program will be at the 210 Center (Locust and Center). It’s free and I will also
have my books for sale. The proceeds from the auction will go to the Visalia
Rescue Mission. The evening is part of the on-going 210 Connect Community
Program, a series sponsored by First Presbyterian Church and the Visalia
Times-Delta. Should be an informative and enjoying evening. Hope to see you
there.

COS Plays and
Musicals

When Richard Drath mentioned “My Fair Lady” in HH some time
back, he tried to recall the year it was put on by COS. Sheila Caskey Holder
came to the rescue and remembered it was 1964. Sheila also shared that she had
a collection of COS plays and musical programs. And wow, does she have a
collection. About 40 of them, one as early as 1951, “The New Moon.” Believe me
the local college has performed all the classics. Thanks Sheila for your help
on this.

Memoirs of George
Washington Duncan

A regular reader of HH shared these memoirs of an old
pioneer named George Washington Duncan. It is a fun read, typed on 24 pages
with the last 5 or so dealing with Tulare County, especially around the Tule
River area. There are a few Visalia references, but not many. “Grizzley” bears
and lots of material describing the land. It is dated 1901 however, the date is
a little suspect, but it is early. If you would like me to email you a PDF
copy, I’d be happy to do that. Just email me and ask for a copy of the
“memories” and I will get one to you.

***Byron Smith recently shared that when the famous “The
Pioneer” statue by Solon Borglum collapsed at Mooney Grove Park on May 28,
1980, at least partly due to an earthquake here, he was working there and remembered seeing in the rubble, “a wooden
frame with chicken wire” infrastructure, and recalls the rotting termite
damaged wood. No wonder it collapsed.

***If you would like to know more about the history of
Visalia’s Palace Hotel, which by the way is probably the San Joaquin Valley’s
oldest commercial building still in use, pick up the November 2016 issue of Lifestyle Magazine, the article starts
on page 12. Or you can go online http://www.visalialifestyle.com/history/

***Historian Andrew Crane is working on a historical project
that involves Jasper Harrell, a pioneer of Visalia who was probably the richest
man in Tulare County during the 1880s. Andrew is looking for a picture of
Jasper and I can’t help him. He is trying to find a member of the Harrell
family that might have a photograph. Any relatives of Jasper Harrell still
around? Help would be appreciated.

Visalia

Few people beyond the borders of our county, and indeed, some
within its boundaries who have never visited our thriving young town, can form
any adequate idea of its resources, its rapid advancement in wealth and
population, and its prospects of future greatness. Its name is often mentioned
abroad, and the inquirer, anxious for information, eagerly inquires, Where is
Visalia?

The day however, is not far distant when the whole world
shall know where Visalia is, and when its name shall be no more an enigma to
the most unsophisticated. The Tulare County Record and Fresno Examiner
(Visalia’s first newspaper), July 2, 1859

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

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Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list, and
would like to be notified via email when a new posting of this newsletter is
made, please email Terry Ommen at histerry@comcast.net. I will add you to the list. I will never share your
email address with anyone without your permission.

Well, Dorothy Downing is the winner. She was the first to
correctly identify the last mystery spot as one of the ice shoots at the old
ice plant building now the Ice House

Theater. Nice work Dorothy and again
thanks to Kim Gunter for suggesting this as a mystery spot.

Here are your clues for the next one:

1)This sign is in plain view—not hidden in any way

2)This 3 link emblem symbolizes that people are bound
together

3)At one time this building was sandwiched between Jasper
Harrell’s building and a theater

4)The 3 initials stand for what “ the organization “ believes
are the 3 guiding principals of life.

On what building is this sign located? Good luck.

An Old Transit Center

Bruce Geiger found this neat old photograph of an Orange
Belt Stage bus at the Visalia Bus Depot and boy is it nice. It is apparently a
1960 photograph showing the bus at the Greyhound Bus Depot at 211 S. Court
Street. During this period of time the location served the community like the
transit center does today.

This location was the pickup and drop-off point for
Continental Trailways, Greyhound Bus lines, and Orange Belt stages. It served as a taxi stand as well. The second
photo shows on the far left a partial view of the depot and shows its position
in downtown Visalia. It was on Court Street just south of the alley behind the
Town Center Post Office. Great picture, Bruce. Thanks for sharing it.

Jean Shepard and Her
Visalia Connection

On September 25, 2016, former Visalian and Country Music
Hall of Famer, Jean Shepard passed away. Jean and her family came to Visalia
from Oklahoma in the early 1940s looking for a better life. The whole family
was musically inclined but Jean had the very special voice. All the family
members worked in the fields picking fruit around Visalia including Tagus Ranch.
Even Jean did this as a youngster. Jean
attended Visalia Senior High School and graduated in 1951. Carl Mathewson was
in her class and remembered her wonderful voice especially when she sang at
school assemblies.

Phil Kneeland also knew the Shepard family and knew early on
that Jean was going to be a big country western star. Gary Holder knew Jean’s
brother Hoyt and was also familiar with the family. While in high school Jean
organized an all girl singing group which later became known as Noble’s Melody
Ranch Girls. (Jean can be seen on the far right in both photographs.) When I talked to Jean about the advertising poster shown here and
asked about “6 Musicians From Hollywood” she laughed and said they were not
from Hollywood and she wasn’t sure how that got there. Jean’s big start began
when Hank Thompson heard her sing in 1951. She and her fellow country singer,
Ferlin Husky teamed up and their song “A Dear John Letter” made it to the top
of the country chart. In 1953 she continued her climb, this time to the Grand
Ole Opry and stayed a member until her passing. I had an opportunity to meet
Jean in her dressing room at the Opry in 2011 and got to see her perform on
stage. Quite a thrill for me.

Eleanor Calhoun—More
Visalia Royalty

Speaking of Jean Shepard and her almost royalty status to
country music fans, Visalia lays claim to another royal citizen—this one was
actual royalty. Eleanor or Nellie Calhoun was born in Visalia in about 1862.
Even though she left Visalia with her family for Bakersfield while still a
young girl, Visalia still claims her. Nellie had a gift. She was an actor and boy
could she act. She was a star in San Francisco and throughout the United
States. She toured Europe and became a famous French actress learning to speak
French fluently. She eventually married the Prince of Serbia and became
Princess Eleanor. Here is a rather poor photograph of her as Dora in the stage
play “Diplomacy” in about 1884. She
wrote her memoirs called Pleasures and
Palaces. The second photograph was Eleanor at the time the book was
published in 1915.

Chamber of Commerce—Over
a Century of Promoting Business

The Visalia Chamber of Commerce has been around for a long
time. In its early years, it was called the Board of Trade or Improvement
Association, but regardless of its name, the group that promotes business in
Visalia has always attempted to make the business climate a healthy one. Their office locations have moved

around town over
the years. In this photograph the chamber was housed in the old California
Highway Patrol office building on the northeast corner of Stevenson and Mineral
King. It stayed here for many years, then the building was torn down and the
chamber was on the move again. Does anyone recognize this patch? I have had it
for many years and need assistance in
identifying what years it was used. Help please!

Visalia Municipal
Auditorium—A Popular Venue

In 1916, Visalia built a magnificent municipal auditorium
large enough to attract conventions and groups of all sizes to town. For nearly
50 years, it played host to all sorts of
events, meetings and activities. In 1963, the building was determined to be unsafe
and had to be torn down. During its heyday, it hosted wrestling matches,
political rallies, National Guard exercise and so many other events. It had a
stage and few, if any, remember the artwork on the main

curtain on the stage.
It had a mountain scene in the middle and at the bottom it showed settlers
heading west by covered wagon. There were also scenes of what I believe to be Giant
Sequoias on either side. Many of these stage curtain paintings were created by
well-known artists of the day, but the artist that painted this one remains a
mystery. Does anyone know how we can find out?

***If you would like to know more about the historic
Estrada’s Restaurant and its years in Visalia, take a look at the September
2016 issue of Lifestyle Magazine beginning on page 12.

***Richard Drath shared a couple of things that I found
interesting and I want to share them with you. He said, “I heard that Marni
Nixon recently died. She did the voice over singing for many movie stars,
including Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
I wonder if any of your followers remember her singing the lead role of Eliza
Doolittle in the COS production of My
Fair Lady. I don’t remember what year it was, but it many have been in the
early to mid-1960s.”

***Richard also said, “I seem to remember in the mid-50s
when the Lucy and Desi movie The Long
Long Trailer was shown at the Visalia Theater (not the Fox, the one farther
down Main Street) that there was a long, long trailer parked outside the
theater that you could walk through after the movie. I’m hoping someone else
might remember this and my memory isn’t playing tricks on me.”

***Start thinking about your December calendar. On Monday December
12th as part of the 210 Connect series, I will be doing a
presentation that I am calling “Structures, Styles and Stories.” It will be
about existing old buildings in Visalia with more information about them. It
should be informative, so watch for more details as we get closer. There will also be some pleasant surprises.

Emigrants are constantly coming into our town and valley. Scarcely
a day passes but we can see from one to half a dozen wagon loads of emigrants
coming in and passing through. Let them come, we have room to spare for all who
desire to come to this, the garden valley of the State. Visalia Weekly Delta, November 24, 1869.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

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Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list, and
would like to be notified via email when a new posting of this newsletter is
made, please email Terry Ommen at histerry@comcast.net. I will add you to the list. I will never share your
email address with anyone without your permission.

Well, congratulations go out to Steve Gerrard – that makes 2
in a row for him—for

correctly identifying the last mystery spot as the old
Southern California Edison power building at the corner of Main Street near Ben
Maddox. Nice work again, Steve.

Now for the next one. By the way Kim Gunter, provided this
mystery spot. Where is this feature? Here are the clues:

1)This would have been a popular spot on a hot summer
day.

2)It was conveniently located near a major transportation
route not functioning today.

3)The product that was once sold here is certainly taken
for granted these days.

4)A variety of people work here now and there is regular
turnover.

Good luck!

Tokens—They Enticed
You to Return

My good friend Alan George recently shared a couple of
Visalia tokens with me. Tokens were a merchant’s way of getting you to come
back to their business and buy more product. In a way it was what we would call
a loyalty program today. A merchant would hand out “good for” tokens to
customers offering them a discount

or free merchandise on their next visit. It
was reward for old customers and provided incentives for new ones to come to
your business. The White Fawn was a saloon at 207 E. Main Street and this
token, upon presentation, earned you 25 cents in trade. The other token shown
here was for 12 ½ cent cigar at The Stag. Sweeney and Necklaussen (notice S
& N on token) owned the saloon. Thanks Alan for sharing these wonderful
relics with us.

Images of America—Visalia
Book Now Available

For the past year and a half I have been compiling old
Visalia photographs, some of which were generously provided by some of you, for a book. This is another Arcadia book which
happens to be the second one I have done for this publishing company. The current
book which was just released a couple of
days ago is part of a series they call Images
of America. The publisher will be placing the book at local outlets, but I
have not heard yet where they will be offered locally. Amazon has them too. The
book is a historical photograph book and features on the cover a picture of the
Visalia Electric train in front of the old county jail on Oak Street. The
Arcadia series is nice for anyone interested in old photographs of towns. It can
be enjoyed straight through or glanced at with interruptions. Not a lot of
text, so you don’t have to read very much, but I have included very good
historical information in the captions. If you would like to purchase a copy
and can’t find it locally, call me at (559) 901-3227 or email me at histerry@comcast.net and I will make
sure you get access to a copy.

Visalia Landmarks in
Pencil

David L. Smith is a local architect and pencil portraiture
artist in Visalia and is he good! Recently he created a set of 4 note cards,
each one drawn by him capturing an iconic Visalia landmark. The End of the
Trail, the COS Giant, the Fox Theatre, and the former Mearle’s Drive-In, make
up the four card set. His detail is amazing. For example, take a look at the
Fox Theatre note card—he has even drawn the individual

ceramic tiles below the
theater ticket windows. He is making these available to all of us and envelopes
are also included. Printed on heavy white cardstock, the cards are top quality
and perfect for sending a personal message to an old friend the old fashion
way. Drop by his office at 303 No. Church Street in Visalia or make
arrangements with him by telephone (559) 733-7833 to get a set or two. Perfect,
too, for art collectors and Christmas stocking stuffers.

National Guard Gets
Mascot

Laura Heberling recently shared with me some photos from her
family scrapbook, and boy are they beauties. In mid 1916 the border with Mexico
was a “hot” spot with Pancho Villa working it over pretty good. The United
States was worried that the Mexican Revolution was going to spill over into the
United States, so US troops were sent to the border including Visalia’s Company
“D” 2nd Infantry Regiment of the California National Guard. On June
23rd of that year, about 100 Visalia national guardsmen boarded the
train on Oak Street bound for their assigned border area near Nogales, Arizona.
While the troops were in the field Visalia’s well-wishers found an abandoned
bear cub in Giant Forest and shipped him down to them to keep the troops
company. The little bear was a big hit and quickly became the company mascot.
They named him Phil-Bear, and he was treated like royalty. Here Marvin
Heberling, one of Visalia’s guardsmen, is shown holding him. Laura, thanks for
keeping the family photos in such nice condition and thanks for sharing them
with us. The other photo shows the troops in Visalia boarding the train with a
huge sendoff.

Sweet Building—Remodel
and Recognition

Visalia’s Sweet building has been around a long time and
stands as a constant reminder of the importance of the Sweet family in Visalia
history. At one time the big Sweet building housed one of the largest, if not
the largest department stores in Tulare County. The Sweet family later closed
the store and sold the building. It was divided into three buildings and Links
Clothing store occupied one portion. In the last couple of years Links closed
and their portion of the building was sold to Sam and Marlene Sciacca. They
have transformed it into a modern and

luxurious apartment building utilizing
the upper floors as well as the ground floor. Now the Visalia Kaweah Kollectors
created a bronze plaque to place on the building recognizing the building’s
history. It is part of the City of Visalia’s
Historic Recognition Program, and it will be mounted soon. Thanks to the Visalia Times-Delta for covering the event, and appreciation goes out to Mike Alvarez, the photographer and Luis Hernandez, the reporter.

Buena Vista Grocery—A
Rare Photograph

For a long time I have enjoyed and appreciated the era of the
neighborhood market. Visalia had plenty of them sprinkled around residential
neighborhood. They carried minimal groceries, lots of staples and had candy and
ice cream bars for neighborhood kids to buy. Some even had pickle barrels where
you could get a big dill pickle for a nickel. Many of them have disappeared
from neighborhoods over the years forcing shoppers to go to the big
supermarkets. Lucy Perez Stump, who I have known for many years, grew up in a
family that owned and operated a neighborhood store in Visalia—Buena Vista
Grocery. It was opened by her parents, Antonio and Alvina Perez at 117 E. Buena
Vista in about 1937 and it stayed in the Perez family until it closed in about
1990. Lucy and her siblings worked there after school. Lucy shared this
photograph of the store, and I think it is a rare one. Does anyone else have a
photograph of a Visalia neighborhood market? Thanks a lot Lucy.

A Piece of the Old
Tulare County Courthouse

Construction of the fancy Tulare County Courthouse in
Visalia began in 1876 and was finished in 1877. It was built in Courthouse
Square which is located on Court Street between Center and Oak streets. After
the turn of the century, additional courthouse space was needed so they added
north and south wings to the original building. In 1952 the big Tehachapi
earthquake shook the old building and shut it down. It was red tagged as too
dangerous to occupy. A few years later, the old timer was demolished. Some
relics of the building were saved, like the redwood carving of Minerva, the
goddess of wisdom which sat at the very top of the building. Minerva is at the
Tulare County Museum. Many years ago, Annie Mitchell gave me another saved piece
of the old building. This salvaged mail slot hardware had been given to her by probably
someone in the demolition crew. The salvager etched on the back of the mail
slot some important information about it. In her later years, she gave it to
me as a keepsake and I have cherished it ever since.

***Not too long ago Bob Stewart contacted me and said he had
an old milk bottle with Visalia California embossed on it, but he also said it
had the letters MCDA. He is curious as to what those initials stood for. Does
anyone know? A guess on my part says it stands for _____?________ Cooperative
Dairy Association, but again only a guess.

***Recently, Joseph Vicenti while walking downtown spotted a
small bronze or brass plaque embedded in the sidewalk. It is only about 3” x 5”
in overall size and it has printed on it: Erdman Madison, Wisconsin. Does
anyone know anything about the plaque or that name?

The oil sprinkler or sprayer, which is being operated on the
streets in Visalia at present, is doing what appears to be splendid work. The
oil is sprayed on to the streets, while highly heated, and as a result it dries
into the dust very rapidly, and a buggy driving directly behind the sprayer,
will pick up scarcely any of the oiled dust at all. Under the old plan, the oil
was put on in large quantities, formed in puddles and stuck to the wheels of
passing vehicles and the shoes of pedestrians for a week afterwards.Daily Visalia Delta, March 22, 1908

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Click
on photo for larger imageThanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list, and
would like to be notified via email when a new posting of this newsletter is
made, please email Terry Ommen at histerry@comcast.net. I will add you to the list. I will never share your
email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to many of you who correctly
identified the last mystery spot as the sidewalk clock on Main Street in front
of the coin shop at 204 W Main Street, but special congratulations to Stephen
Gerrard who was the first to get it right. Nice work, Steve. Ok here is your
next one. The clues are:

1) This brick building is very close to the site of the
old Mt.

Whitney Power Steam Plant.

2) The building is near “lots” of automobiles3) It is nearly hidden by vegetation so you have to look
closely

4)It is near a street with a name connected to early electricity
in Visalia

Where is this building?

The Fox Loved Kids

Children have always been an important part of Visalia’s Fox
Theatre. Whether it was when they performed on stage, or when
they came for
children’s movies, youngsters were always welcome by the theater management. In
the old days the theater even created a “Kiddie Club” for the youngsters, and it
was a big hit. Guy Shelley shared this official Kiddie Club pin. What a nice
keepsake.
Thanks Guy.

Concrete Post Mystery
Solved

Back in 2008 Joseph Vicenti, a local historian, asked about
a strange concrete post that poked up from the sidewalk on the northeast corner
of Main and Liberty streets marked 1948. He wondered why it was there. It was a
great question. David Miller and a couple of others commented that they thought
it was an abandoned post that once held a post office mail collection box.
Well, Henry McLaughlin, while perusing the archives of Historic Happenings read
about the 2008 question and discussion and went to work. Henry happened to find
similar posts in Fresno and eventually solved the mystery when he found this websitehttp://forgotten-ny.com/1999/12/ancient-mailboxes/
Great piece of detective work, Henry. Now it is confirmed! Visalia’s post
mystery is now solved for good …it once held a post office box. The Visalia
post is the first image shown here.

Pioneer Judge—James
S. Clack

For some time I have wanted to highlight a man who played an
important part in Visalia’s criminal justice history. His name is James S. Clack.
He came to Visalia in about 1884. He became an attorney, then justice of the
peace for Visalia Township, then police judge and then superior court judge. He
married Julia Hinds in 1907 and they lived in Visalia. She passed away in 1955,
and the judge died in 1934. For several years Justice’s Clack’s office was on
the ground level floor of the Templars Building (205 N Court across from the
courthouse.) On the far left you can see the Justice of the Peace sign hanging down.
The building, of course, is now gone. Sorry about the poor quality of the
portrait of Judge Clack here, but it’s all I have. If by chance you have one,
or know where one can be found, I would appreciate knowing. Thanks.

Cloth Concrete Bag

Speaking of the Visalia Fox Theatre, Guy Shelley who worked
in construction in Visalia for many years, also shared an unusual souvenir of
the theater that was in the family. When construction for the theater project
broke ground in April 1929,much of the building materials were brought in from out

of the area. The Spanish style building used cement or concrete from San
Francisco. Hundreds if not thousands of these bags of
cement/concrete were
shipped to Visalia by rail. The bags were opened and mixed on the site. The
movie house had its grand opening in 1930. Here is a photograph of one of the
empty cement bags that was part of the Fox Theatre construction. Thank Guy
again for sharing.

Rodeo Buttons Were
Everywhere

Rodeos historically have been a part of Visalia life for
many years. In the heart of cattle country, Visalia has hosted some of the
finest rodeo cowboys competing from throughout the country. For many years the
local Moose Club organized the event and made it an annual one, and one to be
proud of. Supporters of the different rodeos would buy these buttons and
proudly wear them each year. Here is a partial collection showing just a few.
I’m convinced that many of these and others are to be found tucked away in
jewelry boxes and drawers. They represent some of Visalia’s exciting days.

More Tunnels in
Visalia—Now the Mysterious Courthouse Tunnel

For several years I have heard about a mysterious tunnel
that allegedly connected the old Tulare County Jail at Church and Oak Street to
the Courthouse (presumed to be the Courthouse Annex) in old Courthouse Square.
The Courthouse Annex building continues to stand on Court Street between Center
and Oak. The people who I have talked to never actually saw or walked into the
tunnel but swear it exists or existed. In each case, they had heard about it from others. The idea of a
tunnel makes sense. Prisoners in the jail could be escorted below ground to the
courthouse for their judicial proceedings and therefore the authorities did not
have to expose them to the public. A tunnel also could help in preventing
escapes. Several people have mentioned that they found what looks like the
tunnel opening, now caved in, in the basement of the Courthouse Annex building
(note this building was finished in 1935). Recently, Faye Phillips, an employee
of the Tulare County Probation Department offered to give us access to the basement,
and we found what was purported to be the tunnel opening. My partner in this
adventure, Russ Hurley, a prominent Visalia attorney and history buff,
accompanied me and he climbed through the relatively small crawl opening
leading to what was supposedly the beginning of the tunnel. Once nearby, he
took a closer look at the alleged tunnel opening. Although interesting, he and
I believe it was not a tunnel, but more than likely a small channel access to
utility pipes and wires. But there are still several possible tunnel theories
that could be in play here. Can you help? Have you heard of the tunnel from sources
other than me? Please share if you have.
If you have personal knowledge of the tunnel between the jail and the
courthouse, I’d appreciate knowing. Also, if you have additional information
about this, please share and help solve this mystery. Thanks Faye, for making
this tour happen and thanks Russ, for your role as Indiana Jones.

***If you would like to learn more about the old Spanish
style city hall/fire department that was located at Church and Acequia streets,
please get a copy of Lifestyle Magazine,
May 2016 edition and go to page 12. You can see photographs and read about it.
Or you can go online at https://issuu.com/lifestylemagazine/docs/lifestyle_1605_web

***Thanks, Sheila Caskey Holder for a nice photograph of
Frank and Betty Lowe, owners of Commercial Printing at 123 N Court Street. They
were important people of the day and it’s nice to have a photo of them.

***By the way, Dorothy Downing found out that Visalia
changed to area code 559 on November 14, 1998. Thanks, Dorothy for that tidbit
we wondered about.

***Betty Treaster shared a photograph of the Dedication of
the Tulare County Historical marker at the old Liberty School that she attended
back in 1992. Thanks Betty. By the way Betty was one of the finest Recording
Secretaries any organization could ask for. She did it for the Tulare County
Historical Society for many years.

Emergency Order
Announced in Response to Spanish Influenza Pandemic:

“Now, therefore, it is ordered by the Board of Trustees of the city of Visalia that every
person within or who comes within the city of Visalia during the prevalence of
the present epidemic of the influenza shall at all times and places within said
city, wear a mask of a design approved by the health officer of said city: provided, however, that said mask may be
removed at all reasonable times for the purpose of eating and drinking and provided,
further, that the mask shall not be worn in private homes or private rooms
unless a case of influenza shall exist in said place. This order shall be
effective immediately. Dated and done this 30th day of October, 1918
at a duly called meeting of said Board of Trustees.” Visalia Daily Times, October 31, 1918

Visalia Then & Now

Visalia Then & Now is an interesting look at the town's history. It is a trip through time, comparing old Visalia photographs with contemporary photographs showing how the town has changed and how it has stayed the same. A wonderful way to understand history with images pictured side by side. Get your signed copy today. For questions or ordering information please email visaliahisterry@gmail.com or click on the above cover photo.

Wild Tulare County

Tulare County was a tough place with plenty of rough and tumble characters! Read about this untamed land in a newly released book called Wild Tulare County Outlaws, Rogues and Rebels. Filled with historic photos and packed with incredible stories, the book clearly makes Tulare County part of the old west. Get your signed copy today. For questions or ordering information please email visaliahisterry@gmail.com or click on the above cover photo.

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About Visalia

Visalia is believed to be the oldest San Joaquin Valley town between Los Angeles and French Camp.